1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a beverage can and, more particularly, to a beverage can having a top including an opening tab and a straw stored in the can being deployed when the tab is opened.
2. Summary of the Background Art
The patent literature includes a number of descriptions of beverage cans including opening tabs and straws held within the can and within its contents to be deployed for drinking the contents when the tab is opened. Such a can would provide the advantages of allowing the user to drink a beverage from a can through a straw supplied within the can, without having to upend the can and without having to touch his mount or lips to the exterior surfaces of the can.
Early descriptions of such cans included tear-off strips or tabs that were pulled upward from the top of the can to expose an opening therein. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,656,654 describes a can having a tab, in the form of a tear-out strip sealing a hole in its top, with a positioning member attached to the tear-out strip holding the upper end of a straw held within the can, so that this upper end of the straw is pulled outward through the hole remaining in the top of the can as the tear off strip is removed, with upward motion of the straw being aided by a float member mounted on the straw. U.S. Pat. No. 3,946,895 describes a can having a top including tear-out strip that is pulled into a upstanding position by a ring attached to the top of the tear-out strip, while a plastic apron including a hole holding the top portion of a straw bent into an L-shape is attached to the bottom of the tear-out strip. When the tear-out strip is opened, the top end of the straw is rotated upward with it, straightening the straw. U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,356 describes a can having a tear-out strip that includes ridges holding a bent over upper portion of a straw held within the can, so that removing the tear-out strip straightens the upper portion, pulling it outward through an opening in the top of the can. U.S. Pat. No. 4,228,913 describes a beverage can holding a straw having a lower portion formed as a resilient bellows. Both this lower portion and an upper portion are held in cylindrical guides attached to the side of the can, with the upper end being held under a tab that is pulled upward to expose an opening in the top of the can and to allow the top of the straw to move upward as the bellows elongates. U.S. Pat. No. 4,356,927 describes a can in which a straw is held by upper and lower guides fastened within the can to its side or by depressions in the removable tab and in the can bottom, and in which the lower end of the straw is bent at a right angle, with resilient corrugations in the straw forming the bend, so that, when the tab in the top is opened upward, the straightening of the bend in the straw pushes its upper end upward.
However, changes in the design of cans for holding beverages under pressure that can be opened without an opening tool have resulted in the general use of bend down tabs instead to tear off tabs that are pulled upward. Since bend-down tabs are not readily removed from the can, the tabs themselves do not become sources of liter, and additionally since they are not detached, they cannot be dropped into the can, from which they may be accidentally swallowed. Therefore, more recent patents show cans internally holding straws that a actuated for use by bending down a tab to open the can. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,923,083 describes a beverage can having a non-detachable bend down tab and a straw including corrugated portions that are deflected to provide a pop-up characteristic, with the upper end of the straw being held by a rotatable straw delivery mechanism. This mechanism holds the straw out of the way of the tab during its initial downward pivoting movement, and then moves the straw into position under the opening when the final downward pivoting movement of the tab brings the tab into contact with an elbow, portion of the straw delivery mechanism. U.S. Pat. No. 5,244,112 describes a can including a tab that is pivoted downward by an actuator riveted to the tab, a straw held within the can, a support structure holding the straw substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the body of the can and rotating the straw into alignment with the opening in the top of the can, and a float moving the straw upward. U.S. Pat. No. 6,354,460 describes a can holding a straw engaging a floating member that is located adjacent to the lid when the container is filled with a fluid. The floating member includes a contoured or cam surface which is engaged by the tab in the top of the can as this tab is pivoted downward to open the can, so that the floating member is rotated to bring the straw into position under the opening in the can top. U.S. Pat. No. 6,491,184 describes a can with a downward-opening tab and a straw supporting element movable between a free position in which the first end of the straw is located in the orifice of the device for opening the container and a locked position in which the first end of the straw is arranged in the interior of the can, with the straw supporting element including an intermediate piece having a peripheral edge portion arranged between an upper wall and a peripheral wall of the container by crimping.